Chicago Radio Spotlight

A few more updates this week: Richard Cantu, Rick O'Dell and Alan Cox.


You can read it here.

"Sweet Emotion"

35 years ago, Aerosmith scored their first top 40 hit...

Chicago Mayor

Now that Daley isn't running, the Beachwood Reporter did a rundown of every conceivable candidate for Mayor, and calculated their odds of winning.

You can read it here.

A glass of wine

"MM" sent me another one. This one is entitled, "A glass of wine"

To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine...and those who don't and are always seen with a bottle of water in their hand.

As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.

In a number of carefully controlled trials,scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 litre of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E.. Coli) – bacteria found in feces.

In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop. However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor)because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember:
Water = Poop,
Wine = Health

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of sh*t.

Waitle Nex Yeare

Last year on this day, Just One Bad Century got some attention and publicity when we took out a birth announcement for a little baby named "Waitle Nex Yeare."

It was obviously a joke, though many people fell for it. I did an appearance at a book club (for my novel "$everance") shortly after that ad came out, and when one of the women realized I was the guy that took out that ad, she said: "Oh my god! You're the Waitle Nex Yeare guy? We were talking about that instead of our book last week."

This year we could have taken out the ad on May 1st.

Joke for a Thursday morning

Contributed by "MM"...

Solve the Puzzle.

You are riding on a beautiful white horse. On your left side is a drop off. On your right side are several ostriches chased by a lion. In front of you are four large gazelles that won't get out of your way and you can't seem to overtake them. Behind you is a stampede of horses.

What must you do to get out of this highly dangerous situation?

ANSWER: Get your drunk butt off the merry-go-round.

Missing Cat

This is pretty funny.

An e-mail exchange between a cat-owner and a designer about a poster. Her cat is missing, and all she wants is a missing cat poster.

Walter Payton beats Jim Brown

I remember this like it was yesterday. It wasn't. It was 26 years ago.

Vin Scully

I'm glad I looked for this. I didn't think it was out there. Vin Scully does the play by play in the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax's perfect game against the Cubs...

Sandy Koufax

On this day in 1965, he threw a perfect game against the Cubs.

It was the last time any pitcher has thrown a no-hitter against them.

The full story is here.

Ford Pardons Nixon

It happened on this day in 1974...

Raffy

On this day in 1986, just five days after Greg Maddux made his major league debut, another young Cubs rookie made his. His name was Rafael Palmeiro.

Like Maddux, his best years would be played in another uniform.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I used my last pair of Cubs tickets yesterday, and took my middle son Johnny to the game.

I know people think I'm an idiot for rooting for the most pathetic franchise in history, but I refuse to let the naysayers ruin the experience for me. All it takes is an afternoon at Wrigley Field with my son to remind me why I love this game and this team.

Johnny loved every second of the experience. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing out, the hot dogs were tasty, he kept score with his Cubs pencil, and wouldn't you know it, the Cubs won the game in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a Geovany Soto home run.

In the future will Johnny's memory of yesterday be ruined by a fifth place finish? No, it won't. It was just a great day at the ballpark with Dad.

And if that makes us pathetic idiots, then so be it. I wish that kind of pathetic idiocy on all of you.

Keith Moon

On this day in 1978 Keith Moon died at the age of 32. This is the last song he did with the Who...

The Dick Van Dyke Show

On this day in 1966, one of the greatest shows of all-time "The Dick Van Dyke Show," aired for the last time...

Charmian Carr

"JD" stumbled across my Charmian Carr article, and sent me the following e-mail...

"Rick--Like you, I'm a long-time, but now retired Broadcaster: two years at WSB Radio in Atlanta, GA, then weather on TV at WSB-TV, The Weather Channel, WAGA-TV and WGCL-TV -- all in the Atlanta market. Especially during my years of doing weather, I met many celebrities around Noon News time, and as the saying goes, yep, the bigger they were, the nicer they were.

I had been at WSB Radio for a year when "The Sound Of Music" came out. As an on-air guy, I got a free pass to a press screening, very sparely attended, surprisingly. That was the first of five times I saw the movie during its first run.

While I have had a lifelong crush on Julie Andrews, I was absolutely gobsmacked by Charmian Carr! She was born 11 days after I was in 1942. The calendar says I'm 67, but I tell ya, I'm still 37 when I get up in the morning!

You said it, Rick: LOOK at those eyes.

I saw her on one of the network morning news shows about ten years ago, and she was still gorgeous.

I envy your doing John's transcribed scene with her. I expect I would have felt much the same as you; though, over the years of meeting stars, I realized that all of us "in the business" were simply performers together, even if some were in stratospherically different leagues! Having that realization made it quite easy for me to meet and talk with whoever showed up in the studio.

I just discovered your blog today, looking for Charmian. You are a fine writer!"

Right to the point

Ken Hubbs

On this day in 1962, Cubs rookie second baseman Ken Hubbs set a National League record for most plays handled without an error.

This is what it sounded like.

The record was broken in 1965 by Jerry Adair of the Dodgers.

By then, Hubbs was dead. He died in a plane crash in February of 1964.

Labor day

Happy Labor Day!

Please don't work.

That's the whole idea of the holiday.

Emil Verban

His name has become known because of the Washington group of Cubs fans formed in his honor (jokingly); The Emil Verban Society. Among it's one-time members; Ronald Reagan.

On this day in 1948, Emil did something on a baseball field for the only time in major league career.

He hit a home run.

He hit it off Johnny Van Der Meer, the man who once pitched consecutive no-hitters.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This week's is called "Interviews with a Scoutmaster."

You can read it here.